Reflections on Three Solid Years of Carnivory

July 18, 2018 was the day, after having watched the Jordan Peterson interview on Joe Rogan, that I decided to give Carnivory a try for a month, eating nothing but animal product. That month has stretched down to the present and looks like it will never stop. So tomorrow is our THIRD year “carniversary.” As I reflect on this whole thing here are various thoughts:

1. The difficulty in eating this way is largely social and emotional. 

What I mean is that it is awkward when getting together with friends (at their house or at our own) because folks feel uncomfortable with us ONLY eating meat and not having desserts and such. As though they are being rude enjoying the treats in our presence, and it honestly bothers us not at all. Also deep in our memories are things like apple pies in the autumn, pumpkin pie for thanksgiving, and cookies at Christmas. Those are emotional barriers that we’ve had to get over, but honestly, we feel so well eating this way that it makes no sense to let emotional memories rule. Rather, we simply enjoy the memories and have no problem making treats for guests or grandkids.

2. The simplicity of this way of eating is hugely advantageous.

Simplicity itself in a number of ways. First, you don’t have to think too much or too hard about food. And it took a while for the realization to dawn: the food preparation is far, far easier and the clean up is, pardon the pun, a piece of cake! Particularly when we do so much out on the grill. We basically don’t eat breakfast (save sometimes on Saturdays), enjoying out first meal about noon and then our second about five. 

3. What we eat.

There are all kinds of arguments in the Carnivore community about optimum eating. Cindi and I actually stick with basic Zero Carb. What this means is that we freely eat anything we choose to from the animal kingdom. This morning, for example, I ran over to McDonald’s and picked up two sausage patties and two “round” eggs a piece. I threw a slice of sharp cheddar between both of mine; Cindi had cheddar on one. She tries to watch her dairy. I did for a while, but I frankly seem to do fine with it, over all. I try to follow famous Zero Carber Charles Washington’s wisdom here, though: If you eat cheese, he’s assuming it’s on your burger! (Cheese by itself we will do when in social gatherings, but it’s not our norm). We eat chicken, bacon, sausage, shrimp, scallops, salmon, and (of course) beef, beef, and more beef. That is, all beef hotdogs now and then, but most frequently steaks and burgers. Oh, and EGGS. We both love eggs and eat them most anyway. We have indulged occasionally in mushrooms (and they are neither plant nor animal) but that’s not a usual guest at our table at all. 

3. What we drink.

Water is our mainstay and we both love carbonated water.  We both enjoy our coffee (we get an Aldi brand from Peru, organic). I will drink it all day long, but work at not allowing it to push out my water! Cindi will enjoy wine with friends. I did up till recently, but I have given up alcohol entirely except for in the Holy Eucharist. Just a choice I made and I am enjoying the deeper sleep that affords! 

4. On the Fat vs. Protein debate

Cindi and I don’t even try to manage macros, but we are simply aware of a difference between us on the matter of fat vs. protein. We both enjoy the fat on a good rib-eye, especially nicely seared, but Cindi seems to need more fat than I do; and no question that I have a low tipping point, particularly on any rendered fat or butter. It sends me scurrying to the bathroom! Mostly, though, we just eat what our body wants. Some days, Cindi even fries up some fat by itself and we munch on that. It’s a real treat!

5. Isn’t This Horrible for Your Health?

Look at the SIZE of the people who try to sell you on that one and ponder where the “healthy whole grains” and “healthy vegetable oils” land you. We’ve both lost weight on it. Cin is still losing. I’m hanging right around 145. When I gave up the dairy, I dropped down to 135 but wasn’t really comfortable there. I’m quite comfortable at 145. We both have high LDL, but neither of us is convinced that’s a problem at all. We got our CAC (coronary arterial calcium) scores and they were both outstanding. We both were listed as having slight build up in a single artery and thus were scored as unlikely to have any cardiac events in our near future. Cindi did experience some high blood pressure that required medication, but its solidly back down and now sometimes seems too low. We wonder if the ups and downs of 2020 was the culprit. Cindi turned 61 back in April and I turn 61 in October. She only has her blood pressure medication that she takes; I take no medicine. I lost the migraines and so the maxalt back in early 2018 (that’s another story and one I THINK is related to how we do our coffee…). My Monday to Friday daily workout currently is 200 pushups, 24 pullups, and 24 KB swings. Once a week (Saturdays) I do ten minutes of High Intensity Interval Training. Once we started Carnivore, yours truly lost ALL stomach issues (I used to get horrible bloating, which looks really weird on someone with heterotaxy syndrome); Cindi found she could easily get down on the floor to play with the grandchildren again. In short, we’re thriving! 

6. How do you make it work at restaurants?

We honestly don’t eat out all that often. Cindi’s a better cook than any restaurant and she loves doing it. But we go out and it is simplicity itself. Fast food? Just order burgers without buns. If they don’t know how to do that, order your burger with the bun and just scrape it off your burger. At a nicer restaurant we sometimes get buffalo hot wings (unbreaded!) or shrimp for a side, and then a nice ribeye for the main course. I order soda water when we go out; Cindi might enjoy a fine glass of cab. We went to a REALLY nice restaurant for our anniversary this year and we started out with oysters on the half shell, which we both thought were scrumptious. Dessert? What about that cuppa coffee with a splash of cream! You end up walking away satisfied and wellfed rather than waddling away in discomfort. 

7. Isn’t it too expensive?

I know it sounds like it would be, but we haven’t found it so. We usually buy half a cow at a time from our local farmer (go Steve!!!). Cindi is always scouring the local grocery’s “must sell” section and we just toss that meat in the freezer till we want it; she finds great deals. She came back the other day with a boatload of meat, lots of ribeyes even, having spent over $300. But it was stuff that was either on sale or needed to go, so it was marked down. We’re set for a while on those! Our standard meat, though, is hamburger and that’s about the cheapest meat you can buy. We were shocked on how much the berries and the veggies and other fruits were costing us. And we found out that eating zero carb we usually always finish up our left-overs. And we eat lots of eggs; and eggs are not that pricey either.

8. How hard is it to stay on plan?

We think most folks have a hard transition to Carnivore. Your body pitches a real hissy fit when you deny it carbs (and THAT should make you think…). But if you can get through the “I just can’t put another piece of meat in my mouth” phase (honestly, neither Cindi nor I had that; but we’ve heard many others have), then you’re home free. You break the “sweet” addiction. Folks that seem to have the worst time sticking to it are those who attempt to allow themselves occasional exceptions and indulgences. A “cheat” meal once a month becomes once a week becomes daily and soon you’re back where you started. For us, we found every single indulgence we allowed ourselves to be NOT WORTH IT. It really helped me to recognize sugar for what it it is: POISON. I won’t eat poison. End of story. And if I ever forget it is poison and have some…my body reminds me instantly that it is exactly that. At least, that is my experience of sugar (flour, vegetable oil). I avoid the stuff at all costs.

9. Any other weird stuff?

One thing that I think lots of folks have mentioned: we tend not to burn in the sun (if we built our base with moderate exposure) and that seems to be related to simply not using industrially created vegetable oils. Our fats are mostly lard from our bacon, tallow from our beef, or butter (and we buy Irish butter from Aldi). I never use sunscreen. 

10. Where things stand according to the fancy bathroom scale:

As of this a.m.: 

Weight 146

BMI 21

Body Fat 11.3% (10% subcutaneous)

Me in my late 30’s, pre low-carbing

A pic from right before Carnivore:

And that recent pic from Meaghan, three years zero carbing: